“He wanted to justify
himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” Luke 10:29
When it comes to commitments and contracts, it seems that as
soon as we sign, we start looking for loopholes. Humans have been trying to untangle themselves
from obligations since the start (think garden, fruit, snake, etc.), but
sometimes the more diligently we try to get out, the deeper we get in.
Such was the story for a lawyer who tested Jesus—and
failed. The man, an expert in Jewish
theology, asked Jesus the requirements for eternal life, but instead of
answering with a statement, Jesus responded with a question. “‘What is written in the Law?’
he replied. ‘How do you read it?’”(Lk
10:26). With no hesitation, the
lawyer rattled off the two greatest commandments: “Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind and with all your strength,” and “Love
your neighbor as yourself.” Since
doing of all these things all of the time would equal perfection, Jesus
replied, “Do this and you will live”(Lk
10:28).
This comeback unsettled the expert because the demand was so
broad. To love God with everything made
sense, but an expectation to love all others seemed absurd, so he started
looking for a loophole. “He wanted to justify himself, so he asked
Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’”(Lk 10:29).
In answer Jesus told the parable we call “The
Good Samaritan”—the tale of a victimized traveler, desperate and dying, who was
ignored by a prideful priest and a reluctant rabbi before being finally rescued
by a passerby with a soft heart and an open hand. The hero was a man the lawyer
loathed—a Samaritan, a part-breed Jew whom proper Israelites despised and
disdained, but such was exactly the point.
Mercy and compassion know no boundaries.
Ethnicity, economics, preferences, partialities, or even our own plans and
priorities should never keep us from being kind and caring. Ever. The expectation to love all others is
large, but so is our God.
Who is your neighbor?
The one in need.
Love has no loopholes.
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